Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide went 13-2 in 2021, losing only to Texas A&M in the regular season and Georgia in the College Football Playoff title game.

The Tide won the SEC Championship Game over those same Bulldogs and produced the Heisman Trophy winner in QB Bryce Young.

Most schools would kill to have a season like that. Not Alabama. Not under Saban. In fact, on “McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning” on WJOX on Wednesday, Saban went as far as to call last season a “rebuilding year”:

Yikes.

If winning an SEC Championship and producing a Heisman winner is a down year, in Saban’s mind, what must he think of this year’s squad?

The 2022 Tide enter the year as the favorites to win the national title. With Young back at quarterback and Will Anderson Jr. back to terrorize opposing quarterbacks, Alabama will be a fearsome foe this fall.

Can the Tide put together all the talent on its roster and make a run at LSU’s 15-0 mark from its incredible 2019 campaign? We’ll see what the future holds for Saban and the Tide, but his comment about last year’s team should strike fear into the hearts of those not located in Tuscaloosa.